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Post Your Questions as Comments, Here
by Grayson Schaffer | on May 4th, 2008 | in Your Questions
by Grayson Schaffer | on May 4th, 2008 | in Your Questions
Every week, our experts help readers solve their K9 conundrums. If you’ve got a problem, post it in the comments below (or in any comment, really) and we’ll do our best to get to it.
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My dog loves his toys, to the point where if any other dogs try to play with them he attacks them. And it’s not just his toys, say we’re at the dog park, and there is a dog that is playing with a tennis ball, he will steal the tennis ball from the other dog and get very mean if that dog tries to take their toy back or even share the toy with him. And even at home, he does not get mean with people (he’s never bitten a person, only other dogs) but he gets so annoying with his toys, to the point where I have to take his toys away and put him in “time out” which is him being sent to his crate.
I don’t think it’s a matter of lack of exercise (but I could be wrong), as I let him run next to my scooter until he’s tuckered out (which he absolutely loves).
Any suggestions on how to stop this aggressive and annoying toy possessiveness/obsession?
I have two Alaskan Huskies that are so smart and loving, but every time they are off-leash they run away and NEVER come back. Two or three days after they take off, someone will find them and give me a call to pick them up.
I try desperately to keep them contained or on-leash at all times, but Huskies are very clever escape artists. I exercise them a few miles a night but they still run away every chance they get. I’ve been told that Huskies will always run away, and you can’t train them not to. Is that really true? Is there any way to teach them to come back?
I just adopted a 6-year-old English Setter named Aggie. She’s a sweetheart of a girl, but she’s had almost zero training. She didn’t know her name, is jumpy at some sounds (though not sudden loud ones, strangely), has a fear of feet and does not like being on pavement.
My strategy is to treat her like she’s a puppy, since she needs to learn anything a puppy would learn. My question is: Is there anything different I should be doing for a neglected, possibly abused older dog? And if you have any advice for helping me best help her (books, methods, etc.) I’d greatly appreciate it.
Thanks for the help,
Jonah
I adopted a stray Alaskan husky who is a lovely dog in nearly every way, except she is a hysterical lunatic in the car. She squeals, yelps and howls and leaps around and if there is anything within reach that she can destroy, she does. any hints on training her out of this earsplitting habit? We are working on crate training which I hope will be the answer but I don’t like to see her so upset.
“White Dog Bit My Hand.”
That was the note I found scribbled on an envelope in my mailbox, during the week when my patient and long-suffering mailman, John, was out of town. I’ve got two labs, both rescues. Angus is old and gray and barks at the mailman as well; Ruby is sweet and shy with all dogs and people outside the yard—but inside it, she charges the fence and acts like she’s going to kill passersby. It gets worse: The “White Dog Bit My Hand” note came a couple weeks after “White Dog Tried to Bite Me”—this from the paper deliveryman. And here’s the more embarrassing part: I’ve had Ruby for three years. She was probably abused as a pup, she used to be terrified of new people, but has settled down in most situations. She’s mostly lab, but may have a wee bit of pit bull. I’ve tried a citronella collar that squirts when she barks, but it doesn’t faze her. I’ve tried a lot of “no!” when I’m there to catch the behavior (but she does it mostly when I’m gone, too). I’ve put an inner fence inside the fence, but she can still reach the gate where the mailbox is. Now I’ve moved the mailbox and am thinking of fixing sweet Ruby up with a shock bark collar. Any other thoughts? Thanks Dog Shouters!
Dear All,
I have a very smart, 11-week old Golden Retriever puppy. He has learned “Leave it,” “Come,” Sit,” “Down,” “Look,” and to touch my hand with his nose on command. However, I have problems with biting and “heel.” On walks he is more interested in biting my hands, my pants, and especially the leash more than anything else. Using the command “leave it,” will get the dog to temporarily abandon the leash, but go back to chewing immediately after receiving a reward. Often, it is almost impossible to get him to move; he lies on the ground, zeroes in on biting the leash and wanting to play tug-of-war. When I go down to remove it or pick him up, he turns to my hands.
I’ve also tried giving treats every 10-15 feet for good on-my-side heels, but once the treats are gone, the good behavior is as well. Rewarding pets are returned with bites and verbal praise for good behavior is ignored.
At home, I’ve eliminated the biting by isolating him after every nip, but I cannot do this on walks and he seems to know.
Thanks,
Adam
I have a 7 month british lab. Outstanding pup, very good with obedience and retrieving- in the backyard. However, she is very skiddish in new surroundings: school yard, fields, park, etc. She won’t retrieve or listen to me anywhere except the backyard, but she does heel very well for more than twenty minutes around our neighborhood. I have tried MANY new locations, recently walking her on a 6′ lead in the same field seems to help a little. Will she outgrow this shyness or is there other methods to assist? Thanks.
Dear High Drive Dog Owners-
check out these new dog/human powered rigs ! at http://WWW.DOGPOWEREDSCOOTER.COM
unlimited dog exercise under excellent dog control. and a whole new sport !
this is the first time anyone has placed a pulling animal BEHIND a steering wheel- that makes it so easy- that makes it big news !
any chance of a link?
thanks
mark
I have a year and a half old aussie shepherd mix (thats what the rescue told me) that I need some training advice on. When she is inside she is a very well behaved dog; she listens to my commands (sit, stay, come, lie down, and paw), and spends the majority of the time in her bed sleeping or watching me. Whenever she is on leash she exhibits many of the same traits as being inside, she is completely submissive and docile.
However when I let her outside off-leash she is a completely…feral. She will crouch down and bark at me, run, jump around, growl, and snap at me trying to get me to chase her and she will chase other people she is familiar with in the same way. If we are away from the yard with a fence this will keep up for 10 minutes or so before she will take off and I will see her again every couple of hours until I can find a way to trap her. When she is outside she will occasionally sit, but will never stay or come when called.
How can I improver her command recall when outside first in my yard and then in unfenced areas without her taking off?
Thanks for the advice,
Ryan
I have 4 dogs: Bear,a 8 year old soft coated wheaten terrier, Jasmine, a 6 year old chow/lab mix, Jack, a 6 year old lab mix and Tucker, a 1 year old german shepherd/plott hound mix. Bear and Jackc are dog aggressive (at least on leash). I routinely bike with my 3 high energy dogs, each at seperate times, to get rid of some of their endless energy. But during the week, I just don’t have any day light after work to do that so I walk all 4 of them at the same time. Generally, the walks go well. Unfortunately, since they get to run with the bike, they have so much energy on walks that there’s no way in the world a walk will ever do so we run as much as Jack (the lazy dog) and I can manage on the walks. They have a nasty habit of pulling in an attempt to run almost the entire time we’re out. I can handle that however…I still have control of them even though their total weight is 100 pounds more than mine. They all know their commands and generally listen to me (except for the pulling part). The thing that concerns me most though is that Jack and Bear yank on me and attempt to charge at other dogs we pass on walks. They have only gotten away from me a few times. Jack does a fine job of behaving himself when it’s just him and me but with Bear along, it is just too much. Bear is the true aggressor, I guess. The couple of times they have managed to get loose on walks they chased down the dog(s) but then just sniffed it and I couldn’t get close enough to grab my dog because I’ve still got another dog chomping at the bit to get to the dog. Luckily, they didn’t completely ignore my come command and they returned to me before causing any damage. However, Bear has managed to get ahold of some little dogs. One was on the outside of the fence and he grabbed it through the fence and tried pulling it into the yard. ANother time, he ran out the front door and grabbed our neighbor’s little poddle and started shaking it and another time a little chiuahua managed to squeeze through a tiny hole in our fence. Bear grabbed it before I even knew it was in the yard. In each case, I told Bear to drop it and he did…none of the dogs had any puncture marks luckily. But my worst fear is coming across a little dog wandering the street without an owner (it happens often) and Bear somehow managing to get ahold of it before I can do anything about it. At that point, I believe pack mentality would kick in even though two of my dogs are the most gentle dogs out there. How can I help them realize the world won’t end if we pass another dog? How can I keep them from losing their wits when they spot one down the road?
Tiffany
I have a 8 month old lab that keeps wearing his pads raw from pacing in his kennel. What can I do and will he ever build up his pads enough that this won’t happen?
Dog or maybe in this case it should be Dawg? I love the website it has excellent info but i just wish it could be updated more. is there a specific date and time it gets updated?
RE: Mabel the coonhound mix! You published a Q & A a little over a year ago from a “Mary Catherine” concerning her B & T Coonhound mix’s penchant for chasing cats. I would love to be able to get in touch with Mary Catherine and compare notes as my Dixie (B & T Coonhound mix) looks EXACTLY and I mean EXACTLY like Mabel. If there is a way for us to contact each other through this website, I’d appreciate it.
There was a commenter on the same article who has a B & T mix named Finn with the same appearance similarities (I’m wondering if we all have similar behavior issues and if there is a possibility they all came from a related litter, as Dixie too is a rescue and quite a handful). Any assistance is greatly appreciated.
Hello,
In May 2009, I asked for some advice regarding my pup, Conrad, nipping. It was good advice, we implemented it and resolved that issue. Now here we are shy of two years later amd he was just diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia, arthritis present in the right hip. He is a high energy dog with a significant challenge that, at this time, is limiting his ability to be active. I am wondering if you have suggestions on how to develop a training plan that allows him to stay active but limits the pain and the need for pain medication. I have done some reading and we will be visiting with an animal rehab vet soon, but any information, suggestions, you may have will be most welcome.